The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
There was no time for pain
No energy for anger
The sightlessness of hatred slips away
Walking through winter streets alone
He stops and takes a breath
With confidence and self-control
I look at the world and see no understanding
I'm waiting to find some sense of strength
I'm begging you from the bottom of my heart
To show me understanding
I need to live life
Like some people never will
So find me kindness
Find me beauty
Find me truth
When temptation brings me to my knees
And I lay here drained of strength
Show me kindness
Show me beauty
Show me truth
The way your heart sounds
Makes all the difference
It's what decides if you'll endure the pain that we all feel
The way your heart beats
Makes all the difference
In learning to live
Here before me is my soul
I'm learning to live
I won't give up till I've no more to give
No more to give
Listening to the city
Whispering its violence
I set out watching from above
The 90's bring new questions
New solutions to be found
I fell in love to be let down
Once again we dance in the crowd
At times a step away
From a common fear that's all spread out
It won't listen to what you say
Once you're touched you stand alone
To face the bitter fight
Once I reached for love
And now I reach for life
Another chance to lift my life
Free the sensation in my heart
To ride the wings of dreams
Into changing horizons
It brings inner peace within my mind
As I'm lifted from where I spilt my life
I hear an innocent voice
I hear kindness, beauty and truth
The way your heart sounds
Makes all the difference
It's what decides if you'll endure the pain that we all feel
The way your heart beats
Makes all the difference
In learning to live
Spread before you is your soul
So forever hold the dreams within our hearts
Through nature's inflexible grace
I'm learning to live
No energy for anger
The sightlessness of hatred slips away
Walking through winter streets alone
He stops and takes a breath
With confidence and self-control
I look at the world and see no understanding
I'm waiting to find some sense of strength
I'm begging you from the bottom of my heart
To show me understanding
I need to live life
Like some people never will
So find me kindness
Find me beauty
Find me truth
When temptation brings me to my knees
And I lay here drained of strength
Show me kindness
Show me beauty
Show me truth
The way your heart sounds
Makes all the difference
It's what decides if you'll endure the pain that we all feel
The way your heart beats
Makes all the difference
In learning to live
Here before me is my soul
I'm learning to live
I won't give up till I've no more to give
No more to give
Listening to the city
Whispering its violence
I set out watching from above
The 90's bring new questions
New solutions to be found
I fell in love to be let down
Once again we dance in the crowd
At times a step away
From a common fear that's all spread out
It won't listen to what you say
Once you're touched you stand alone
To face the bitter fight
Once I reached for love
And now I reach for life
Another chance to lift my life
Free the sensation in my heart
To ride the wings of dreams
Into changing horizons
It brings inner peace within my mind
As I'm lifted from where I spilt my life
I hear an innocent voice
I hear kindness, beauty and truth
The way your heart sounds
Makes all the difference
It's what decides if you'll endure the pain that we all feel
The way your heart beats
Makes all the difference
In learning to live
Spread before you is your soul
So forever hold the dreams within our hearts
Through nature's inflexible grace
I'm learning to live
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
The song is about conquering negativity in everyday life and encourages you to rise above it. Yet it grounds you to live in the moment... If you really listen to the lyrics you may feel sadness or joy when you absorb the inspirational overtone. This song along with the entire images & words album is a masterpiece!
im in a rush trying to find a verse here and there that i like to write down. but this whole song is just fantastic. i guess ill have to save it and come back to it. wow. how pretty.
why is everyone striving for complicated interpretations??? this song is very simply about what the title says, it's about learning to live through pain and mistakes...
And getting laid. That's what I heard. It's about turning away from love and embracing sex. Yup. That's what I heard.
I bet it is...
These lyrics are about the threat of AIDS, which was on everyone's mind in the late 80s - early 90s...for example:
"The 90s bring new questions / New solutions to be found / I fell in love to be let down
Once again we dance in the crowd / At times a step away / From a common fear that's all spread out / It won't listen to what you say / Once you're touched you stand alone / To face the bitter fight / Once I reached for love / And now I reach for life"
The opening lines from the song are a direct lift from the book Atlas Shrugged by noted author Ayn Rand. The first phrase, "There was no time for pain, no energy for anger. Sightlessness of hatred slips away." is paraphrase from the exact quote "He had no time for pain, no energy for anger. Within a few weeks, it was over; the blinding stabs of hatred ceased and did not return." (p.211 of the Centennial Edition) The next phrase in the song, "Walking through winter streets alone, he stops and takes a breath, with confidence and self-control," is similar to the next few sentences in the book.
That entire thing is lifted from wikipedia. But I read that book and it is AWESOME!
After reading that section in Atlas Shrugged, I instantly linked it to this song and thought if anyone else saw that connection. Props to you :D
yeah vozzys right wonderful lyrics by myung . one of the best if not the best DT songs
The AIDS thing is probably what the song was WRITTEN about, but I have a different interpretation. I feel that it's about just getting all the shit that's on your mind off of your mind. Learning to live means learning to live peacefully, tranquily, relaxed, and healthy (mentally, not neccessarily physically.) Kind of reminds me of the whole prying open your third eye thing.
i love the fact that the at the end of the song it plays the wait for sleep melody, maybe bring another meaning into the song? linking the two together? (the girl is the one 'learning to live' and the guy she is talking about in wait for sleep might of died of aids... just my guess. one thing i really love about DT is that so many of their songs link, it's awsome!)
I hadn't considered that this was about the AIDS panic of the 80s and 90s, but I can see where that's relevant.
I always considered the meaning of this song to be right in the title. It's about learning to live. To put it another way, it's about growing and maturing, searching inside yourself for what gives meaning to your life. About identifying your goals, your values, your morals, and coming to understand your place in the world and what you want in order to be satisfied with life. In this life, it's important to face the unknown situations of the future, and by looking forward with confidence and self-control, you just might find kindness, beauty, truth. You can't escape the pain we all feel, that of loss, aging, and death ("nature's inflexible grace" is a poetic way of stating this), but you can reach for life, and learn to live.
john Myung lyrics if my memory serves me correctly, great bassest. anywho, im assuming that this song deals with how u thought u had somethign with someone but then it was taken away and now ur left trying or learning to live.